Pender County, N.C., officials are considering zoning restrictions that would ban self-storage development from major roadways, particularly U.S. Route 17. The proposal is one of 50 action items included in the Pender 2.0 Comprehensive Land-Use Plan. The document was created after more than 1,350 residents responded to an open-ended community survey. The inclusion of the self-storage provision indicates enough residents complained about development activity, according to the source.

The recommended action specifically asks county commissioners to “discourage the construction of storage facilities along the road frontage. Such facilities should be located behind other development and generally not visible from primary roadways.”

Commissioners will be tasked with applying the language in the land-use plan to an upcoming Unified Development Code. That project is expected to create a series of zoning designations, including “personal service” businesses in general business districts. The county could use the recommended action to assign self-storage developments to areas away from U.S.-17.

Wilmington and other parts of the county have seen an uptick in self-storage development during the last two years, according to Archie McGirt, owner of Monkey Junction Self Storage, which operates one facility in Leland, N.C. and three in Wilmington. “Within the last two years, we’ve had more storage starting to really pop up, but that’s because of the growth of Wilmington,” he told the source.

While McGirt noted that facility aesthetics may have played a role in residents complaining about self-storage growth, limiting facility visibility could be challenged in court. “I would think that would be looking towards a lawsuit from the industry,” he said. “I don’t see how they could come in and put us to the side and say we’re different from everybody else.”

“We will create appropriate designations for [self-storage projects],” said Kyle Bruer, Pender County planning director. “By no means do we want to eliminate them.”

No timetable on how soon the county could formally adopt the zoning changes was reported.

Source:
Port City Daily, As Self-Storage Facilities Multiply, Pender County Considers Banning Them from Major Roadways